Putt18 indoor putting game review

This indoor putting mat brings with it a game element that will appeal to more than just golfers.

In these strange days of homebound isolation, I was pleased to receive the Putt18 putting game mat for review.

For many golfers, hitting ball after ball at the same target can get boring pretty quickly, especially for the more social golfer. But the game element, combined with a range of different tees and targets has seen the Putt18 occupy floors at some pubs, offices and schools across the country.

This mat itself is good quality that runs around 10-11 on the stimpmeter that features a colourful print indicating a bunch of targets, tees and penalty areas that make up 18 separate holes to play.

The idea is that you get to practice your putting while keeping score and playing 18 holes against people.

Putting a ball into the target area for the hole your playing is the equivalent of an eagle. Just miss and it’s a birdie. Anything off line can see you rack up bogeys or more including a triple-bogey for finding the water.

Keeping track of my score and playing against others in the family kept up my interest for longer than it would have with a regular putting mat. And it captured the interest of the non-golfers in the family too. A welcome distraction during the coronavirus lockdown.

Putting to a target instead of a hole is strange to begin with and may put some golfers off but once you realise this is about lagging your putts and simply playing the game, it is a load of fun that can induce a bit of tension “as you’re coming up 18”.

If we had to be picky it would’ve been nice to see one of the targets moved back towards the end of the mat next to the water for a longer, slightly trickier putt. But rolling a golf ball into any of the targets isn’t easy – my current course record sits at +5.

We’ve kept track of our individual course records with plenty of family banter among the more competitive among us. Scoring in your head is not difficult but the scorecards are a fun touch – we’ll most likely laminate one to make it quicker to write down scores and then wipe them off.

And just like real golf, I had the most fun playing matchplay anyway.

The gamification of the Putt18 is the point of difference compared to other putting mats and likely attract interest from non-golfers just as much as those golfers among us at the office or at home.

The Putt18 retails for $179.95 and you can purchase it through the Putt18 website.